History projects

Assignment: Creative project done at home for chosen subject.
Kaitlin - for 6th grade Ancient History, Kaitlin chose greek gods.
Breana - for 5th grade American History, Breana chose the Declaration of Independence.
Ideas: clay sculptures for diaramas.

My job: buy the clay in yellow, white, tan & blue - easy enough...
Due: Wednesday, March 7

There are too many varietys of clay! There's polymer, suply, clay you bake, clay that hardens without baking, clay you reuse, clay you add color to while you're kneading, clay you paint after baking...here a clay, there a clay, everywhere a clayclay. The clay I found that hardens without baking for $3.49 only came in white & tan. To buy yellow, I would have to buy another multi-pack but would be stuck with neon pink, green & black. To buy blue, I would have to buy a single pack the size of a brick for approx $10. I decided on a completely different route - a neutral color that could be baked if you wanted to but would also harden without baking and could have dye added to it before baking and painted on after baking. I knew we had food dye and prayed that our tempura paint was still in good condition. This clay seemed quite versatile to me and for $3.49 a package I grabbed two, one for each girl, and intended on walking to the register but took a detour to the back of the store to walk down the aisles of pens & erasers & pads of paper before I worked my way up front...uh oh...and that's where I saw the kid's aisle. On those shelves were four completely different types of clay and colors and uses - ohmigosh this is only a 5th/6th grade project! I finally decided on 2 different types; a tub of white clay that hardens without baking and a package of 20 sticks in different colors of reusable clay. I walked out with my wallet $8 lighter, 4 minutes left on my meter & 15 minutes until the girls get out of school...my job is complete!

Kaitlin made 5 different objects significant to the greek gods and placed them on pillars. Her pieces were smaller in scale. Some pieces were easier to sculp than others. One piece, the wings on the sandal, took patience and a little bit of ingenuity to keep the reusable clay to maintain it's shape.

The end result is simple and well thought out. It makes a nice display representing symbols of the greek gods.

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Breana sculpted Thomas Jefferson signing the Declaration of Independence. For his blue jacket, Breana kneaded 2 different sticks of blue clay together and spread it over the body made of the white clay. Jefferson's hair is swabs of cotton and the feather was cut out of vellum. Breana always gathers feathers but could not find a single one for this diagram. The end result is stunning.

They both did an incredible job.

Concerns: getting them to school unharmed.

What we learned: the reusable clay isn't the best for projects like this.